Happy Jack

OK, that's impressive. My AliKat double bass kept me waiting for nearly 18 months and I thought that was pretty outrageous ...

I've owned loads of custom builds, but they were all built for other people so I do understand what this topic is all about! The two honest-to-God commissioned-by-me-to-my-own-specs custom builds that I have ordered are still with me and are HUGELY unlikely to be going anywhere else. In truth, and in the interests of full disclosure, both basses have things that I could nit-pick about if I wanted, things the builder got 'wrong'. These issues (I can hardly bring myself to describe them as 'faults') are always going to happen unless you spend the entire build in the luthier's workshop, looming over his bench and preventing him from deciding anything for himself.° In my (limited) experience the killer factor is whether or not you have a clear purpose for the instrument. Commissioning an instrument as a 50th birthday present to yourself, or because you like the luthier or something, is IMHO doomed to end in failure and disappointment. My two were both very specific orders to meet very specific needs. º Other genders of luthier are available.

Both my current bands are 3-piece so I'm not sure how that would work ... guess I need to find a new 4-piece or 5-piece project so that we can have a 'spare' musician when we need one. I'm glad you mentioned that they're shortscale necks. It never even occurred to me to ask, and I just assumed that these were longscale for some reason.

Rumour has it that Yeovil has a new anchor.

Bloody Hell but that takes me back. I still remember that session.

Well chaps, there's a rather long back-story to all this, but finally Spidey was restored to his rightful place. Actually, he wasn't my first Basschat avatar. For the first few years I used this photo taken at Brands Hatch in 2003.

Mind you, this might be a better option. https://www.lumag-gb.co.uk/shop/lumag-md500e-mini-dumper/?fbclid=IwAR0mugN17gj4OACIrbjd15GzB8AtfXOSIP8kPbWPGGXBeV7oyM-czOVRnV0

Once the gigs return, reckon I'll be getting one these. https://www.cautrac.com/product/400/

And that's the title of my next album right there.

You could try buying your guitarists a pair of these:

Using my Briefcase a lot during Lockdown and the post-Covid wasteland of low-volume social distancing. That one-knob compressor is surprisingly effective. If I was feeling pretentious, then I might even say 'musical'.

I'd have thought anything with valves in would add some compression ...

Can you even begin to imagine the queue of punters at the Dog & Duck, all waiting to shout, "Oy! Your amp's fallen over mate!".

That's really sad. Don't you hate it when someone's dreams fade and die. Or, in this instance, bwahahahahahahahaha!!!

And this is why a missing apostrophe matters.

The last time I saw this was 10 years ago at The Fiddler's Elbow in Camden, and it was actually our keyboards player who'd fallen through the black curtain at the back of the stage, not realising that there was a one-metre drop there.

"Unavailable". That's not the band's name, that's an error message.

Should you find yourself anywhere near this bass, you'll be most welcome to have a little play.

True, but you CAN hide a lot of mistakes that way. 🤨

How much are you offering?

It's going to take a while to get the bass up to London from Taunton (with enormous and very generous assistance from those West Country twins @Woodinblack and @stewblack) so in the meantime here are the photos that the vendor sent me. I was very taken with the beautiful Hofner Senator leaning against a complete Vox T60 + matching cab. Turns out he bought them all new in 1963 ... Don't yet understand the two strap buttons, but I'm sure I will. Note that the finish is completely rattan-proof. This is not actually the first bass that I've owned with eight tuners. Unlined board ... mmmmmmmmmmmm. No, I don't know where or how I'm going to hang this thing either. The Case Of Doom. That makes me want to take a nap.

Just think of all the selfies!

So anyway ... I bought it. Now, where's my supertanker?